“Can we learn ethics in the classroom!??” That was the first thing which came to my mind when I realized that one of the subjects in my MBA program was Business and Professional Ethics.
I always believed that if a person is over the age of 12 and still doesn’t behave well, he/she can only be changed by law, love or religion. So what is the point teaching ethics to adult MBA students?
How completing the subject, however, I find that it isn’t as useless as I thought. I did learn something from the class. For example, I am now more aware of the following issues, which could affect the operations of a business:
- Product safety and liability – Remember Mattel’s recalls of its toys?
- Workplace romance – Read my related post here.
- Impact of business on environment
- Abuse of stock options – Executives inflated the share price, then sell their stocks.
- Employee whistle blowing - Is it disloyalty to the firm, or is it good for the public?
I also learned how to make decision when confronting a moral dilemma. Some of the guidelines are The Golden Rule, Utilitarianism, and the concepts of Rights, Justice and Liberty.
Also, thanks to the Enron scandal, Business and Professional Ethics turned out to be a lively subject.
I believe ethics starts from small.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we did learned about ethics since kindergarten. The only question is: do I want to apply and play with it?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you! At least you did get plenty out from your MBA!
keeyit,
ReplyDeleteWe can still learn ethics at later age, but that won't be in the classroom.
kai,
Plenty more to learn. Can't breathe :(